In a wireless communications system, a terminal usually transmits and/or receives a reference signal and data channel information based on a physical resource block (PRB) index. In a long term evolution (LTE) system, because a synchronization signal is usually located on intermediate 72 subcarriers of a downlink carrier, the terminal may determine a central location of the downlink carrier by performing blinding detection on the synchronization signal, so that a PRB index can be determined based on a (maximum) carrier bandwidth, and the terminal can transmit and/or receive the reference signal and the data channel information based on the PRB index.
However, in new radio (NR), the synchronization signal is not necessarily located in the middle of the downlink carrier, the terminal cannot learn of the central location of the carrier, and one carrier may include a plurality of synchronization signals in frequency domain. Therefore, how to determine a PRB index to ensure correct communication between a base station and a terminal is a technical problem that needs to be resolved urgently.